This is a remix album with several differences. First off, it's for charity - Björk's contribution to the tsunami relief effort. It also consists of one song, Björk's 'Army of Me' single from 1995, reassembled by 20 different contributors. And it's queerer than a furry raindrop. A tiny handful of the artists are known quantities, like laptop eccentric Patrick Wolf, whose rendition recalls the sound of a church organ falling down a flight of stairs. Mostly, though, these are amateurs who sent their offerings to Björk's website. French band Grisbi offer up a chanteuse and bossa nova; Germans Beats Beyond unfurl a glam digitised club track - and those are just the sane ones. Curiously, there are quite a few bad metal tributes. But the prize for the most inventive treatment goes to the percussive twitches and Morris dancing choruses of (ahem) Dr Syntax'n'CB Turbo v Rivethead, as daft as their name suggests.

Tom McRae

All Maps Welcome

(Sony BMG)

Erstwhile Mercury and Brit nominee Tom McRae's third album sees him on a major label, recording in LA and able to command the services of bits of Beck's band. His music has taken a swoop upwards, with tracks like 'Hummingbird Song' gaining in spaciousness and restraint. McRae's writing isn't bad either, remaining rooted in the mildly downhearted vein he shares with the infinitely more punchable Damien Rice. 'Feel the curve of the earth rising to meet your feet,' McRae urges on 'How the West Was Won', as some stately horns declare the distance he's come from his Suffolk roots. 'Silent Boulevard' and 'Packing for the Crash', too, have the kind of big, sad lunges that play well back home in the UK. But McRae's wispy voice remains unassuming to the point of bloodlessness, rendering all this set dressing a bit redundant.

Caesars

Paper Tigers (Virgin)

Swedish garage pop outfit the Caesars shot to prominence on the back of an iPod advert, which uses their 'Jerk it Out' single to underline the desirability of the iPod Shuffle. And, really, that's probably the limit of their uses, although, of course, the Caesars have their hearts set on the sort of approbation enjoyed by their countrymen and retro-pop fellow travellers, the Hives. They've been waiting a long time for it, too - Paper Tigers is Caesars album number four. It's not a bad record, exactly, merely a brash and hamfisted one that leaches all the mystery and verve out of organ-driven pop and replaces it with brashness and disposability.

Nine Inch Nails

With Teeth (Interscope)

Industrial rock overlord Trent Reznor hasn't released a proper record since The Fragile in 1999. A lugubrious and long-winded affair, it suggested that Reznor favoured chemical derangement and woolly dirges at the expense of malevolent pop songs, his original forte. Six years on, Reznor has edged his way slowly back from both addiction and self-indulgence. Like goth-pop outfit Garbage, the new NIN is more organic and direct, featuring guest turns from Dave Grohl and privileging human sounds over digital seamlessness. Not everything on With Teeth is as radio-friendly as the single, 'The Hand That Feeds', but the appealing LCD Soundsystem homage 'Only' is one moment of redemption. Indeed, a few songs here are as taut and fresh as Reznor has sounded in a decade. 'You Know Who You Are?' even features the jangle of a tambourine, the sort of soulful fun usually excised from NIN's white, uptight man-world.

Outhud

Let Us Never Speak Of It Again

(K7!)

Outhud share genes and a propensity for dancing with their sister New York outfits, LCD Soundsystem and !!!. This follow-up to Outhud's sinuous and fleet-footed album of 2002, S.T.R.E.E.T.D.A.D, retains something of their appeal, but somehow fails to ignite. 'It's For You' prowls and poses like a steely club track, with the girly vocals of Phyllis Forbes and Molly Schnick adding an unexpected dimension. But as the album goes on, the irrepressible glee with which Outhud dragged unsuspecting audiences into a sweat seems oddly muted. 'The Song so Good They Named it Thrice' works hard to regain the euphoria of old, but never quite matches the inflated expectations of its title.

Teenage Fanclub

Man-Made (PeMa)

Many bands would like to make music journalists weep into their keyboards. None manage it quite so beautifully as Teenage Fanclub. As with Sonic Youth, the 'teenage' of their name is a wry joke now. But the pleasure of their music is evergreen. 'It's All in My Mind', the opening track of their eighth album, is a wise meditation on life's troubles set to their usual Byrds-derived guitar-pop, as perfect a song as they've ever written. The rest of the album has a difficult job living up to it, but the second track, Gerard Love's 'Time Stops', has a heroic go, pulling a Beatlesy guitar passage into its soft embrace. Once tipped as potential pop stars in the early Nineties, TFC have retreated into self-releasing little record gems on a more human schedule (their last one was in 2000). But the advent of each little offering is like a small victory for the human heart.